But Bobby was brought in for two reasons … #1 his supposed intelligence as a game manger, and #2 as someone who could instill discipline and respect for their manager after a year when the team got fat and lazy under Francona.

On these two points he failed. He made some very questionable baseball moves that lost some games. And while he certainly attempted to instill discipline, he never earned the respect of the players.

Sure, he wasn’t helped by a 2 year lame duck contract out of the gate, but he knowingly accepted that. Nor was he helped by the front office that allowed players and coaches to undermine his authority by going around the coach.

But Bobby V needs to accept his share of responsibility for losing control in the first place.

A guy with gray hair who acts like a Orangutan Vs. A guy with gray hair who looks like a Orangutan.

]]>By: crazywild1325http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/23/bobby-valentine-to-give-his-first-sitdown-interview-tonight-on-nbc-sports-network/comment-page-1/#comment-388421
Tue, 23 Oct 2012 18:09:30 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=245371#comment-388421Non-disparagement contract agreement.
Yes he should have had to sign one.
Because Bobby had a big mouth!!!
]]>By: Jack Marshallhttp://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/23/bobby-valentine-to-give-his-first-sitdown-interview-tonight-on-nbc-sports-network/comment-page-1/#comment-388409
Tue, 23 Oct 2012 17:54:46 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=245371#comment-388409Valentine was set up by the press, and had everything break against him. The enmity people have is incomprehensible for a smart, passionate, skilled manager. Who would have brought in that team, with its Big Three +5 ERA starting rotation, Bard’s collapse, the injured closer, the Melancon meltdown, Youkilis’s decline, Pedroia’s worst season, the endless injuries, and the final salary dump to the Dodgers, with a better record? Not Earl Weaver, not John McGraw—nobody. Bobby V has nothing to apologize for, or to blame, except the people who were rooting for him to fail from the start.
]]>By: gammagammaheyhttp://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/23/bobby-valentine-to-give-his-first-sitdown-interview-tonight-on-nbc-sports-network/comment-page-1/#comment-388336
Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:10:13 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=245371#comment-388336I hope Craig gets to do the Ozzie Guillen post-firing interview.
]]>By: temporarilyexiledhttp://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/23/bobby-valentine-to-give-his-first-sitdown-interview-tonight-on-nbc-sports-network/comment-page-1/#comment-388289
Tue, 23 Oct 2012 15:14:56 +0000http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/?p=245371#comment-388289He should plan his ongoing career with alternating years.

A year of insightful commentary…followed by one-year, crash-and-burn managing gigs.

He could probably keep this up for decades…and we’d continue to soak up the great entertainment.